Bokaro district administration has decided to impose a dress code for the 4,650 registered autorickshaws plying in the steel town, one of a series of measures it is planning to streamline services and ensure unlicensed drivers are weeded out.
According to directives issued by new Bokaro DSP Prakash Soy on Friday, drivers would have to switch over to specified uniforms from August 1. In a directive sent to Bokaro Autorickshaw (Tempo) Association, the DSP has specified blue shirt and trousers for the drivers of 3,070 diesel autos and khaki for the drivers of 1,310 petrol and 270 CNG autos.
Besides these, around 200 diesel three-wheelers are used to transport grains and raw materials.
Drivers flouting these norms will be fined Rs 450 from August 1. "Police headquarters was receiving several complaints about ill-mannered auto drivers extorting passengers regularly. But when the police tried to interrogate these allegedly rogue drivers, we found it difficult to identify them by matching them with the descriptions given by passengers," said Soy when asked why Bokaro was introducing these measures now when several other cities had done so much earlier.
Apart from the dress code, the DSP iterated that it was mandatory for all auto drivers to keep relevant documents in their vehicles, failing which their three-wheelers would be seized. Auto drivers, he added, would also have to fix rods on the right side of their vehicles to ensure passenger entry and exit was restricted to the left wing to avoid accidents.
"Autos would not be allowed to play music on loudspeakers, which causes inconvenience to passengers, especially women who have often complained against drivers playing lewd songs while plying in the city," Soy said.
President of the Bokaro autorickshaw association Sanjay Verma said they would adhere to the DSP's directives on dress code but asked the administration to chalk out routes and corresponding fares<> that would help both drivers as well as passengers that plied without paying any attention to rules.
The assured them that the police would soon launched a drive to ensure strict compliance to traffic rules.
